In an age where meaning seems harder to grasp, the ideas of Byung-Chul Han and Carl Jung offer profound insights into the challenges of modern life. Both thinkers, though from distinct traditions, share a concern for how Western society has become disconnected from the symbolic structures and deeper experiences that once gave life purpose. As I begin a journey into their works, I am struck by a question that feels increasingly urgent: how can we live meaningfully when our lives are dominated by transactional thinking, data, and the superficial metrics of success? This question isn’t just philosophical—it’s deeply personal, and it shapes how we relate to ourselves, others, and the world around us.
The Crisis of Meaning in Contemporary Society
In his critique of the “achievement society,” Byung-Chul Han argues that neoliberalism has transformed the way we engage with the world, fostering burnout, alienation, and a deep existential void. We have become self-exploiters, constantly striving for optimisation yet finding no lasting satisfaction in our efforts. Similarly, Carl Jung observed that modern life, with its emphasis on rationality and technological progress, has severed us from the archetypes and myths that once anchored our existence. Both thinkers highlight a cultural shift away from symbolic and communal sources of meaning toward fragmented, individualised pursuits that often leave us feeling lost and unsupported. This crisis is not merely theoretical; it manifests in the pervasive sense of disconnection and purposelessness that many experience in their daily lives.
Carl Jung believed that living a meaningful life required a deep connection to the symbolic and archetypal dimensions of human existence. For Jung, meaning was not derived solely from external achievements or rational understanding, but from an alignment with the unconscious forces that shape our psyche and connect us to the broader collective unconscious. He saw meaning as emerging through individuation—a process of integrating the fragmented parts of the self into a harmonious whole, allowing individuals to live authentically and in alignment with their unique purpose.
When meaningfulness breaks down, Jung warned of the psychological and societal consequences that follow. A life devoid of meaning leads to feelings of emptiness, disconnection, and despair, manifesting in widespread anxiety, depression, and alienation. This breakdown, according to Jung, is often rooted in a disconnection from the symbolic frameworks that provide structure and depth to life—myth, ritual, and shared cultural narratives. Without these guiding structures, individuals and societies become unmoored, prone to fragmentation, and susceptible to unhealthy compensations like hyper-rationality, escapism, or blind adherence to ideology.
The lesson Jung emphasised is the necessity of restoring meaning through reconnection with the symbolic. This involves not only personal self-reflection and engagement with archetypes, but also collective efforts to rebuild shared cultural frameworks that resonate with the human need for belonging and transcendence. When meaningfulness is neglected, the soul withers; when it is prioritised, life becomes enriched with purpose and vitality, grounding individuals and communities in a shared sense of direction and coherence.
Transactional Thinking and Information Management
The reduction of human relationships to transactions and the dominance of information management over lived experience are key themes in Han’s critique of modern culture. Social media and digital technologies amplify this tendency, commodifying our interactions and encouraging us to see ourselves and others as data points rather than as whole, complex beings. Jung’s warnings about the overreach of rationality resonate here, as the West’s obsession with efficiency and control has pushed aside the symbolic and emotional dimensions of life. As a result, much of what makes life meaningful—intimacy, trust, and shared rituals—has been hollowed out, leaving behind a superficial veneer of connection that struggles to satisfy more profound needs.
In the modern age, social interaction has increasingly become dominated by transactional thinking and information management, a trend that Byung-Chul Han critiques as emblematic of the “achievement society.” This shift prioritises efficiency, metrics, and outcomes over the deeper, symbolic dimensions that foster trust and communal identity. Process-focused social management—where the emphasis lies on quantifiable engagement rather than shared meaning—has begun to erode trust in collective forms of social organisation. When institutions focus predominantly on managing data, achieving compliance, and meeting externally imposed benchmarks, they become one-sided, sidelining the emotional and symbolic connections that allow people to feel a genuine sense of belonging.
This imbalance leaves individuals feeling alienated from the very organisations meant to serve and represent them. Rather than cultivating spaces where people can explore their shared identities and develop mutual understanding, these systems reduce social engagement to a series of checkboxes or transactions. The result is a pervasive sense of disconnection and disillusionment, as people find themselves treated as data points rather than participants in a meaningful social fabric.
Byung-Chul Han’s critique highlights how this obsession with transparency and process diminishes the relational and ritualistic dimensions of human interaction, which are crucial for fostering trust. Carl Jung’s insights deepen this understanding by emphasising the role of shared symbolic structures in uniting communities and anchoring individuals within a larger cultural narrative. When institutions neglect these symbolic and meaning-making functions, they fail to provide the sense of coherence and purpose that individuals crave, further undermining their legitimacy and capacity to inspire collective trust.
For society to rebuild trust in its institutions and social organisations, there must be a shift away from purely transactional approaches toward frameworks that value and cultivate symbolic identity. This means creating spaces for dialogue, ritual, and shared cultural expression, where meaning is prioritised alongside functionality. Only then can collective forms of organisation regain their role as custodians of not just efficiency, but also the deeper connections that sustain and empower communities.
The Metamodern Promise: Rebuilding Symbolic Frameworks
In response to these challenges, metamodernism offers a hopeful critique of modernity’s rigidity and postmodernity’s cynicism. It calls for a renewal of shared cultural frameworks that can reintroduce depth and belonging into a fragmented and globalised world. Han’s insights into fragmentation and relational breakdown complement this vision, pointing to the need for slowness, silence, and rituals as ways to reclaim meaning. Jung’s archetypes provide an additional layer, offering a roadmap for reconnecting with the collective unconscious and the mythological stories that have guided human experience for centuries. Together, their ideas suggest that we can rebuild a symbolic framework capable of fostering a more meaningful, interconnected existence.
The metamodern promise of rebuilding symbolic frameworks is a call to prioritise the reconstruction of meaning in a world that has been fractured by globalisation, digital culture, and the dominance of hyper-rational thinking. Metamodern thinkers argue that our fragmented society must move beyond the disillusionment of postmodern critique to embrace a values-driven approach that centres on shared feelings—what we value, cherish, and aspire to as communities and individuals. This shift is essential for fostering a renewed sense of connection and purpose, as it moves away from the purely intellectual and analytical paradigms that currently dominate, in favour of a holistic engagement with human emotions and aspirations.
Byung-Chul Han’s critique of modern society underscores the ways in which over-reliance on rationality, efficiency, and information management has hollowed out the symbolic dimensions of life. In such a context, meaning is lost, leaving individuals and communities unmoored. Metamodernism offers a response by proposing a reconstruction of collective meaning through the revival of symbolic and mythological structures, where shared rituals, narratives, and values can once again play a central role in uniting people across divides.
To achieve this, feelings must take precedence over metrics, and the qualitative must be valued over the quantitative. This means reorienting society’s focus from what is measurable and controllable to what is deeply human and connective. Values such as compassion, empathy, and belonging should guide decisions and frameworks, fostering a sense of unity that transcends cultural and national boundaries. By centring these values, metamodernism envisions a world where globalisation need not lead to alienation and fragmentation but can instead create opportunities for shared understanding and mutual enrichment.
The reconstruction of meaning is not merely an intellectual exercise; it is an emotional and existential imperative. By aligning ourselves with what we value most deeply, we can create a society that is not just efficient but profoundly meaningful, offering a path forward that integrates both the emotional and the symbolic. In doing so, metamodernism provides a hopeful framework for navigating the complexities of a globalised world while addressing the profound sense of disconnection that defines the present. This values-driven approach, grounded in feelings rather than detached thinking, offers the promise of renewed purpose and a shared cultural future.
Toward a Meaningful Life: Prescriptions for Renewal
Living a meaningful life requires us to rediscover the symbolic dimensions of existence that Western culture has largely abandoned. Han reminds us of the importance of slowness and contemplation in resisting the pressures of productivity and efficiency, while Jung emphasises the need to reconnect with the archetypal stories that shape our inner lives. These ideas are not merely theoretical; they offer practical pathways for renewal, inviting us to reintegrate rituals, deepen relationships, and embrace experiences that cannot be quantified. In doing so, we can resist the transactional pull of modern life and move toward a richer, more fulfilling way of being.
The path toward a meaningful life requires not only personal reflection and symbolic engagement, but also active participation in communal processes that enable sense-making on both global and local levels. Community media plays a vital role in this process by providing a platform for people to engage in the mediation and negotiation of meaning, offering opportunities to connect their individual experiences with broader cultural narratives. Unlike mass-media, which often prioritises consumerism and surface-level entertainment, community media has the potential to foster genuine dialogue, reflection, and the co-creation of shared understanding.
In many societies, including multicultural cities like Leicester, social opportunities for collective sense-making are frequently limited to narrow, commodified experiences centred around consumer goods, cars, beer, and sports like football. While these activities can provide moments of enjoyment and camaraderie, they often fail to address deeper existential questions or foster a sense of symbolic or cultural connection. Community media, however, has the capacity to go beyond these limitations by enabling individuals and groups to explore issues of identity, belonging, and purpose in meaningful and creative ways.
By acting as a bridge between the local and the global, community media empowers individuals to participate in shaping the narratives that define their lives and communities. It provides a space for diverse voices to be heard, fostering a shared sense of agency and inclusion that transcends the transactional and consumer-driven models prevalent in modern society. At its best, community media can serve as a platform for rituals, storytelling, and dialogue that reconnect people with the symbolic structures necessary for a cohesive and meaningful existence.
In this context, Byung-Chul Han’s emphasis on relationality and Carl Jung’s insights into archetypes and collective meaning find practical expression. Community media offers a tangible way to integrate these philosophical ideas into everyday life, providing tools for individuals and communities to rebuild the symbolic frameworks that have been eroded by globalisation and hyper-consumerism. By facilitating local conversations within a global framework, it ensures that sense-making is not only accessible but deeply relevant, nurturing a richer, more connected way of living. Through community media, we can begin to reclaim a cultural narrative that prioritises depth, belonging, and shared purpose over the fleeting distractions of modern consumer culture.
Experiencing the Meaning Crisis in Leicester
In recent years, my personal experience of living and working in a multicultural city like Leicester has reinforced the profound challenges associated with finding meaning and connection in contemporary society. While Leicester’s diverse communities exemplify the richness of multicultural life, they also highlight the fragmentation and disassociation that Byung-Chul Han critiques in his analysis of modern Western society. There is no strong thread of symbolic and mythological interconnection that binds people from different backgrounds together, leaving many to navigate their cultural identities in isolation. This absence of shared frameworks for understanding and dialogue contributes to a sense of cultural alienation and dislocation.
One of the stark realities of this situation is the role—or lack thereof—of cultural institutions in addressing this fragmentation. In Leicester, these institutions often opt for transactional and functional engagement, prioritising measurable outcomes and surface-level participation over creating spaces for deeper, symbolic exploration. Events and activities are frequently framed as initiatives to “engage” diverse communities, but they rarely venture into the realm of shared meaning-making, or the exploration of how different cultural traditions intersect and inform one another. This leaves little opportunity for individuals to reflect on how their personal experiences connect with broader cultural narratives, or to consider how Leicester’s communities might develop a more integrated and harmonious sense of identity.
What is urgently needed, especially in a city like Leicester, is a renewed focus on cultural institutions as platforms for sense-making rather than mere providers of entertainment or community engagement programmes. People cannot be left to globalised media alone, which often prioritises commodification and sensationalism over the development of meaningful cultural narratives. Leicester’s communities need institutions that act as mediators of shared understanding, helping to navigate the complexities of cultural integration and assimilation within a Western and European context. This is not about erasing or overriding diverse traditions, but about creating a shared symbolic language through which different communities can communicate, exchange, and grow together.
Byung-Chul Han’s critique of modern society’s fixation on efficiency, productivity, and surface-level interactions provides a lens through which to understand this dilemma. When cultural institutions focus solely on quantifiable outcomes, they perpetuate the fragmentation and individualism that erodes communal bonds. Meanwhile, Carl Jung’s insights into the power of archetypes and collective myths remind us that human beings thrive when they have access to shared stories that connect them to something greater than themselves. Without these symbolic structures, individuals are left adrift, disconnected not only from others but also from their own inner lives.
Leicester is an illustrative example of the broader cultural crisis facing Western societies. Its vibrant multiculturalism should be an asset, but without strong sense-making institutions, it risks becoming a patchwork of disconnected communities. The challenge lies in creating spaces where people can explore intercultural ideas and concepts, grounded in both their unique traditions and the broader symbolic frameworks of European and Western cultural identity. Such efforts would not only foster greater understanding and connection among Leicester’s diverse communities but also provide a model for other cities grappling with similar challenges.
A renewed focus on sense-making institutions could help bridge the gaps between Leicester’s communities, offering pathways to integrate and assimilate into a shared cultural identity while respecting the richness of individual traditions. By prioritising dialogue, reflection, and the exploration of mythological and symbolic connections, Leicester could become a beacon of how multicultural societies can move beyond transactional engagement to foster a deeper sense of belonging and meaning.
Moving Forward
Considering these reflections, I will be delving into the works of Byung-Chul Han over the next couple of weeks, while continuing my ongoing engagement with the writings of Carl Jung and other Depth Psychologists. I believe that exploring these insights with others could foster a richer dialogue and more in-depth understanding. If anyone is interested in meeting up to discuss these themes, either in person or online, I warmly invite you to contact me.
The works of Byung-Chul Han and Carl Jung provide an illuminating lens through which to examine the existential challenges of our time. Their shared concern for the loss of symbolic depth and the fragmentation of modern society points to a crisis that affects us all. Yet, their ideas also offer hope: a call to slow down, to reconnect with ourselves and others, and to embrace the symbolic and mythological dimensions of life. As I explore their writings, I hope to find not only a clearer understanding of these challenges, but also a way forward—a vision of a life that is richer, deeper, and more meaningful. For anyone who feels that something vital has been lost in our fast-paced, technologised world, this journey may resonate as deeply as it does with me.